Secrets of the Circus
by MaddenedByMercury
Summary: A series of murdered men found by train tacks follow the trail of a famous circus. What seems like a few murders turns into something they weren't expecting, discovering a world they couldn't imagine. Reid/OC
1. Girl with blue eyes

**Summary:** The team gets called to Boston when a series of murdered men found by train tacks follow the trail of a famous circus. What seems like a few murders turns into something they weren't expecting. Everyone is a suspect, even the leading trapeze artist with pretty blue eyes. It gets dangerous, and when secrets start to get out, everyone is in danger, _especially _the girl with pretty blue eyes.

**A/N: If enough interest is shown, I will continue the story.**

* * *

><p>Nobody likes to be woken up at 2am, but if you work at the BAU, it becomes normal. That doesn't change the fact that when Spencer Reid got the call at said time, he groaned audibly while his boss was still on the line, then hung up.<p>

Good thing he didn't give a girlfriend or anything, or else this job would seriously get in the way. Good thing he got to walk through his apartment alone, to leave for who knows long, to return back to the apartment the way he left it; empty.

Usually he didn't think about it, but when he did, it stung all the same. He couldn't help that the loneliness was eating at him, but at least it was only when he thought about it. Which he tried not too.

When he arrived to the BAU, he came in at the same time as Emily. As soon as they got to the presentation room, she said, "This can't be good." They sat at the last two spots.

"It's not." Hotch said ominously. "Two days ago, a John Doe was found beaten to death." he pushed a button on the clicker, a picture showing on the screen."

"A midget?" Derek asked, while everyone studied the picture of the man covered mostly in tattoos.

"The politically correct term is _little person._" Spencer quipped.

"Men from across the country are being found with no identification, not in any system, and no one is looking for them, beaten to death have been showing up." Hotch went on.

Derek looked skeptical. "Yeah, I'm sure there are hundreds, or thousands of cases like that. How would you know if they are related to this guy?"

"It has taken years to notice something was going on, and even more to connect them. Men with tattoos, or copious traces of stage make up, some still in a full on clown make up, all found within a mile of train tracks." Hotch said. Spencer immediately picked up on where he was going, but it was Rossi to point it out.

"The circus?"

"Exactly. It seems like a long shot, but FBI Agent Malcolm Fitzgerald is confident, requesting our help. He seems certain there is something going on. There are hundreds of people in the circus that could have done this, and they want us to profile these victims and the circus hands."

"Sounds tedious." Derek muttered.

"Is there a sexual component?" Spencer asked, staring at the picture on the screen.

"Agent Fitzgerald says there is urine found on them, he believes that has sexual drive."

"Gross." Spencer turned to find Garcia sitting in the corner, off away from the table.

The comment went unnoticed. "Is it safe to assume they connected the death dates to what circus was in town?" Spencer asked.

"Yup, so far they are consistent, which is why the agent is even more positive. _Bernards Extravagant Traveling Circus_."

Spencer recognized the name. "Third most popular circus, following Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey, and Cirque du soleil."

"So, we are going to be spending the next few weeks with circus freaks?" Derek asked, grinning. "Sounds fun."

* * *

><p>Penelope begged and pleaded to go, saying something about Boston's amazing computer system and how she needs to be there if they are meeting 'circus folk'. Hotch agreed immediately, not caring either way.<p>

Twenty men so far fit the description, and Spencer had to admit, it was too much of a coincidence. Something had to be going on. It was the perfect murder too, because cops rarely paid any attention to the nomadic lifestyle, and they tended to live in their own society, live by their own rules. Most of the time, people who joined the circus dropped off the map, and stayed off. Other then tax records, it would be impossible to see what they were up to. Also most of the time, they joined for the reason of staying off the map, dissapearing.

They landed in Boston, where Bernards Extravagant Traveling Circus had arrived only hours before, at dawn. Spencer, Rossi, and Derek were sent to go there right away. They would be under a cover though, searching for a 'missing' girl, who of course didn't exist. They would keep the cover until they got more evidence that suggested foul play going on.

They went to a field where it would be set up, and there were hundreds of people running around, setting up. They looked to be working hard, fast, and meticulous. It seemed like a big hive of workers meshing together like a well oiled machine.

Rossi seemed to be searching for someone who didn't look too busy, and the only warning Spencer got that he found it, _her_, was when Rossi's face seemed to peak interest. "Excuse me, Miss?"

A small, delicate looking girl who was about to walk past them stopped, looking at Rossi with these round, dark blue eyes framed in long, dark eyelashes. Her raven hair cascaded past her shoulders in loose waves. She had these soft, yet painfully noticeable feminine curves Spencer would have to be blind to not see. "Yes?"

Rossi flashed his badge. "I'm Supervisory Special Agent Rossi, these are my colleagues Supervisory Special Agent Morgan and Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Reid, we are with the FBI." her blue eyes flickered to Spencer and Derek, and Spencer was automatically intrigued by them; it was such a rare dark blue color, especially with her dark hair and light skin. But they were something else, that's for sure.

Spencer watched to see her facial expression to see any admission, but she only looked slightly confused. "That's a mouthful." she voiced softly.

"Try introducing yourself like that all the time." the two laughed. "We are looking for someone, do you have a moment?"

She nodded, turning her whole body toward him. "Yes, of course."

"We are looking for 14 year old Cali Hall." Rossi said, pulling out the photo of the fictisous computer generated girl, which had been used in many similar situations. "She ran away, leaving a not behind talking about running away with the circus."

The girl examined the photo, and amused smile playing on her full lips. "No, I haven't seen her, and I haven't heard of anyone wandering around looking for a job yet, but its still early." she laughed. "It's impossible to _run away_ with the circus nowadays. That doesn't stop teenagers from trying." she shrugged. "When ever we find someone looking for work we send them to Ron, he runs this place, and he will call the police if they are underaged."

"Do you think your boss would mind if we hang around, examining the area? Or would we need to talk to him?"

She shook her head. "No, by all means. This happens more then you think; having cops or detectives here on the day of arriving to a town is part of the norm of routine around here-" suddenly there was a loud crashing noise. It was an incredibly long pole, whish Spencer assumed was the center that held up the tent. "Shoot, I have to go." she said, looking over her shoulder, her eyebrows pulling together.

"Thank you very much." Rossi said.

She twirled around on her feet, yelling, "Damn it Jerry, you're going to kill somebody! I told you to be careful!" Spencer watched her retreat, amused.

"Well," Derek began, in a very _Derek_ tone of voice that was somewhere between amused and teasing. "She doesn't look like a circus freak." he glanced to the younger boy next to him, "Spencer, are you watching her walk away?"

Spencer tore his eyes away, looking at Derek. "What- _no._ I was just blanking out, she just happened to be there." he said quickly and awkwardly. He didn't like what Derek was implying; his mother would kill him if she ever knew he objectified a women he didn't even know like that. It was only a brief second, damn it...

Derek raised an eyebrow at Spencer, grinning. "You were checking her out, my man-"

"Was no!" Spencer interjected.

"-Can't blame you though." and then he _winked_.

"Boys." Rossi said. "We have a job to do, lets forget about Spencer's girlfriend and move on." Great, now Rossi was in on it. She obviously _wasn't_ his girlfriend, because he had only just met her, he didn't know anything about her, he didn't even know her _name_, she only knew him as 'Dr. Reid', they hadn't even spoken. If they were dating, they would have had a history together, but no, he only met her five minutes ago. Derek and Rossi apparently didn't understand the term 'girlfriend', but seeing as how Rossi has been divorced so many times he could get a marriage gold card and Derek can't hold a girlfriend, maybe that's not surprising.

Spencer shook his head, that was too far. He was just being grumpy.

They looked around the field sight, occasionally asking someone about the 'missing' girl. Spencer watched the nameless girl out of the corner of his eye. She hopped around energetically, helping out everywhere. She walked with so much grace and poise, Spencer had to assume she was some sort of performer. He would be lying if he said he wasn't intrigued, mesmerized even by her, and those _damn blue eyes._ She wore painfully(painful for Spencer, that is) tight designer jeans and a form fitting glittery, silver tank top.

And he was well aware he couldn't keep his eyes off her which was ridiculous; she was just another girl in another town on another case. But he had this _feeling_ when he saw her that was so frustrating because he couldn't explain it. It was like this weird, instinctual feeling, like she meant something. But she didn't mean anything.

Not yet, anyway.

* * *

><p>By noon they were back to the police station, and there wasn't much going on. They walked into a room with windows and a large glass table for them, two bulletin boards sitting in the corner. Everyone, including Penelope, were seated there. "What did you find?" Hotch asked when they walked in.<p>

"Nothing suspicious." Rossi answered, following suit as the other two boys went to sit down.

"We did find the future Mrs. Reid though." Derek grinned.

Spencer felt his face go hot. "We did not!" first it was his girlfriend, now its his fiance.

"Come on, man. You couldn't keep your eyes off of her!" Derek said.

"Dr. Spencer Reid has a thing for a circus girl?" Emily asked, without looking up from the file she was reading.

He wish he could say the same for Penelope, but her eyes were glued to him and she looked _way _too happy. "Sounds like my kind of girl; A circus freak." Why did Spencer always get ganged up on. "What did she look like?"

Derek let out a low whistle. "_Way _out of his league."

"Hey!"

"Guys, we need to focus." Hotch said, to which Spencer was grateful. "Garcia, I need you to go back ten years, follow the BETC where they have been in those years, and men found during the time without identification. John Does."

"Right, sir." she said, standing up and running out of the room.

"The rest of us need to go though the case files we have so far."

That turned out to be tedious, going through each one individually and discussing it. So far there were eighteen men, so far. "These men don't make it easier by living off the map; they aren't in the system," Derek was saying. "I mean, can people really just up and leave home for nomadic lifestyle?"

"Alright, lets just think; what kind of people live in the circus?" Hotch said, leaning back in his chair.

"People who are able to pick up, leaving everything behind." Emily said.

"Unattached." Derek added.

"In a circus, its extremely tight nit, a giant family." Spencer said, staring at a file. "They almost live by their own rules and society. They bond over the fact that they are all outcasts."

"So who would want to kill them." Hotch asked. "What reason would they have to kill someone in their 'family'?"

Spencer shut the file. "To hide something."

* * *

><p>It got to be late, and they had to take off for the night. Spencer had been planning to just go to the hotel for the night, but JJ, Penelope, Emily, and Derek had plans to go see the performance. Mainly, it was Penelope who wanted to go. "Its the <em>circus<em>, come on. We have to go, I have never seen them and I have heard they are super amazing." They were forcing Spencer to go, but he only put up a halfhearted fight. The girls got all dressed up, ready to go out on the night.

When they got to the sight, it looked completely different. It was all set up now, and Spencer was amazed how fast and efficient they put it up. There were lights hanging everywhere, from trees to poles, there was a colorful ferris wheel, and old fashioned carousel, booths filled with promises of games and prizes, and vendors filled with fatty greasy food. It was all colorful and breathtaking.

But all of the rides, vendors, and booths were closed because soon the circus would be starting.

* * *

><p>They all sat together in the large tent, and Spencer found himself searching for blue eyes.<p>

Lights dimmed, then colorful lights pranced around while a mans voice announced the Bernards Extravagant Traveling Circus. The nights went on and a man stepped out, decked out in true ringleading gear. The gloves, red tailcoat with gold straps, the whole thing. "Good evening, ladies," he bowed. "-and gentleman!" he waved his hands. "Was anyone here for our noon show?" there were some screams. "Welcome back!" Spencer could tell why he was Ringmaster, he had such a good voice for it. Calm, yet charming. "Now that the beautiful kiddies are gone, I would like to remind you if you so _please_, our beautiful ladies in the tent next to this one will be putting on their show soon." there were some cat calls, and Spencer bit back disappointment when he realized the blue eyes might very well be in the peep tent.

"But now, for our extravagant show!" music began to play and hundred of people and animals poured in from behind tent flaps. Spencer, releaved, found her right away. Three elephants lead them way, each with a women on top of them and he found her on the first elephant. Behind the elephants, clowns, acrobats, men on unicycles and women dancing poured into the ring. Men and women were juggling, spitting fire, doing flips.

But all Spencer saw was blue eyes.

She wore a sparkily ruby red corset type, hugging her bodoss, and a tutu like skirt the frilled out, revealing long, milky white legs. A thin, red see through veil like material hardly covered her shoulders. Some gold and red jewels covered her chest area, and some red fake jewels had been glued to her shoulder, and down her arm. She had red eye shadow, thicker looking eyelashes and her hair cascaded down her shoulder. "That's her!" Derek was saying. Spencer tried to hide his face.

"Woah, she's really pretty!" Penelope said. "Now I see what gets boy wonders attention."

Spencer groaned.

Spencer watched as the people, except the Ringmaster, the elephants and the girls left after the first number. The blue eyed girl was the first to jump off the elephant, and onto the pole in the middle. The same pole that had fallen earlier that morning, that now held the tent up. She slid down and the others followed suit. The crowd applauded. Blue Eyes, what else could he call her, bowed gracefully. They went into a performance with the elephants, doing tricks, and funny things that made the crowd left.

He didn't see her until much later, during the aerial act where he found out her, those other two girls, and three men were trapeze artists. He watched amazed as she did gravity defying stunts, swinging, flipping, twirling. It must have taken a lot of trust to do that, because if someone lost their grip... well, there was no net. "They are known for their trapeze act." Penelope hissed to him. "Isn't it amazing?" Yes it was.

It drew to an end, the Ringmaster telling them the carnival would be open for, "-one more hour". As they piled out, Penelope led the group to get some greasy food, which Spencer declined when offered some.

Derek was finishing a corn dog while staring at something over his shoulder. "Hey, its her!" Spencer turned and sure enough, Blue Eyes, still in her costume, was walking by, alone. "Kid, you'll thank me for this?"

Spencer raised an eyebrow. "Thank you for-" and then Derek shoved him a good six feet, causing him to stumble into the girl, almost knocking her over. He caught himself, grabbing her waist to prevent her from falling. She held onto his arms, looking at him in shock. "Oh, I am _so _sorry-"

"No, I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going-"

"-I tripped-"

"-I didn't see you."

"It's my fault." the two stopped and stared at eachother. She had to crane her neck to see him, the tip of her head not quiet reaching his shoulder. "Sorry."

She smiled. "Its fine." quickly, he pulled away from her. "You're the FBI agent from this morning." she noted. "Did you find the girl?"

He was about to ask what girl, but then he remembered the cover. "Oh, no. My team has been assigned to watch over this area," he lied. "so you will see a lot of me." Oh, did he just say that? Crap.

But she was still smiling. "I'm Molly."

He swallowed. "I'm Spencer. You were-were really great." he stuttered out, wanting to kick himself. _You also look great, aren't you cold? Due to the lack of clothes you're wearing?_ he didn't say that out loud.

"Oh, thanks." she said, her cheeks flushing. An awkward silence started to strangle the situation. "The other man said you were a doctor?"

He shrugged. "I have doctorates Mathematics, Chemistry and Engineering, I'm not an actual _doctor_ doctor."

She raised an eyebrow. "How old are you?"

He cleared his throat, tugging at his tie. "I'm twenty-six, as of last week."

"Huh. You're young, but I bet you get that a lot so forget I said that." she laughed shyly. "Where did you go to school?"

"Cal Tech."

"Oh, so you're a genius." for some reason, she seemed to falter.

Spencer laughed. "Something like that."

She began to fiddle with one of the fake jewels that were low on her stomach. "Well, I should go. I'm kind of tired."

Spencer nodded. "Yes, of course. It was nice talking to you."

"It was my pleasure." she said sweetly. "I'll be seeing you around, Doctor." she waved her fingers and waltzed off. Spencer could only watch after her, an unfamiliar feeling in his stomach.

Suddenly a hand clasped on his shoulder. "You're _welcome._"

"Shut up." Spencer mumbled.


	2. Define normal

"Morning, pretty boy." a cheery voice greeted him as soon as he stepped into the police department. He grunted in return, making his way to the coffee machine, not having is shot of caffiene yet which he desperately needed at seven in the morning. Derek chuckled. "Someone stay up all night thinking about a certain trapeze artist?"

Spencer rolled his eyes; it was too early for this. "No,_ Morgan._"

"What's wrong with Boy Wonder?" Penelope said as she swept into the room, grabbing herself coffee. "Not get enough sleep?"

"I'm just tired." he replied right before downing scalding hot coffee.

She pinched his cheek. "Put on your days smile, and pretend to be chipper." she said brightly. "We've got a case to solve!" and with that she skipped out of the room, leaving Spencer wide eyed.

"Why is she so happy _this early?_" Spencer asked, rubbing his dry eyes.

Derek shook his head. "It's Garcia being Garcia." oddly enough, it was a perfectly reasonable answer. "You ready to go to the circus again today?"

Spencer was grateful he was so exhausted, because his casual shrug had to have been convincing. He wanted to crawl back into bed and sleep, but at the same time there were blue eyes haunting him.

Everyone met in the room they were in the previous day. "What do we got?" Emily asked.

"Nothing." Hotch said, getting right to business. "We need proof these men rode on these trains, we don't have their names so we can't track them in tax records. But we can't risk them finding out we know something is going on."

"So, have Garcia photoshop the picture we have to make them look less bloody, and show them to people casually." Derek suggested.

"Yes the problem with that is we have hundreds of people who could be responsible for this." Hotch said patiently. "If we show the picture to the wrong person, they would know we are catching on and without physical evidence, we have nothing. We need to stay on the down low."

"So what do we do?" Derek asked, looking frustrated.

"Use the cover to talk to people, get in the rooms on the train. Morgan, you said the trapeze artist would trust Reid?" Spencer got a kink in his neck for how fast his head turned to stare at Derek, whom looked guilty but gave one nod. "Use it." Spencer didn't know why he was annoyed, but something about him using the word _use_ made him feel guilty.

* * *

><p>They got to the fair grounds while the carnival was going on. Spencer was nervous, because it would be soon when he saw Molly again. Derek flashed his badge to some of the workers until the found out her car number was 28, which took ten minutes to walk to until they got the the 28th car, walking up the ramp and knocking on the metal door. "Come in!" a voice called.<p>

Derek glanced at Spencer, then opened the door. They stepped into to find three sets of beds, but one girl. She was sitting at a vanity, staring at them in surprise. The vanity she was at was closest to the most colorful bed in a corner, with many large pillows, the ledge next to it littered with pictures, trinkets, souvenirs, or otherwise seemingly useless decorations. But what Spencer was staring at was Molly in an extremely short, silk, powder pink slip, that reached about mid thigh and a slight v-cut. He couldn't tel if it was spaghetti strapped because she wore a teal silk robe that reached the hem of the slip. She closed the front of her rob and stood up. "Hello Agents."

"Hello ma'am, we hate to bother you." Derek said politely. "Would you mind talking to us?"

She raised an eyebrow, standing up. "About the missing girl?" Derek nodded. "Of course not. Ask away."

They began to chat and Spencer, curious, started to examine her bed and pictures. Their were portraits of her in her act, in all sorts of glamorous outfits, and many with her and what he assumed to be performers, hugging, arms slung over each other, all smiles. It wasn't until he got to one particular picture that spiked his interest. It was her, crouched down to reach height level with a little person, his arm slung over her. He looked _a lot_ like the most recent John Doe. He glanced over at Derek and Molly, the girl had her back to him, and he made eye contact with Derek, and mouthed '_Keep her busy_' and Derek blinked in response, and began talking to her. Spencer took out his phone and brought of the camera mode, snapping a good as picture as he could get. He wrote, "Looks like John Doe, I need you to do face recognition" and sent it to Penelope. He shoved his phone in his pocket and stood up straight.

"Car ten then?" Derek was asking.

Molly nodded. "Yes, his name is Tom Bernard, and he should be up. He will know if anyone has come by yet."

"Thank you very much. Agent Reid, I'll be right back. You wait here." Derek seemed to smirk as he left, causing Spencer to go red. Molly turned to look at him.

"Would you like some coffee?" she asked.

"Yes, please." he swallowed. "If its not any trouble."

"Of course not." she waved. She let her robe expose her in her slip while she walked to what looked like a closet and opened it. Instead of clothes, there was three mini fridges, a microwave, a toaster, and a cupboard with a coffee maker on it. "Me and my roommates use the closet as a food station. Its kind of hard to get to the food car if the train is moving, so its just easier this way."

"Where do you keep you clothes?" Spencer asked out of curiosity.

She pushed a button on the coffee maker and it started to heat up. She stood and walked over to him then crouched down by her bed. Spencer watched as she pulled her bed skirt up and revealed a drawer the length of the bed and opened it a crack. "My brother built one for each of us. Mine was free." she smirked.

"Is your brother in the circus?"

She closed the drawer and stood up, walking back to the closet. "Yeah, he trains the animals. If you paid attention the other night, he was the one who tamed the lions." Spencer didn't remember any lion, his mind was too preoccupied.

But he said, "Oh." like he remembered.

She opened the cupboard that held the coffee maker and it held all sorts of syrup and creams. "Here, come help yourself." she said, letting a mug fill with coffee. Spencer nodded and did just that. "We have basically have our own Starbucks in here." she joked as she walked away to sit at her vanity again. Spencer was infecting his coffee with enough sugar to keep a colony of ants happy.

When his concoction was finished, he turned around and took a sip. "You can sit." she said, gesturing to her bed.

Spencer, never the one to turn down hospitality, thanked her and sat next to her on the bed. She was putting her hair up in a pony tail, and Spencer found she had four piercing on her lobe, plus on stud on her cartiledge. Each one was a different color, and for some reason Spencer _liked_ it. "Its weird that the FBI is here for one missing girl."

Spencer stayed calm. "She crossed state lines." he lied. "Or we assume she did. Its our jurisdiction now."

"Ah." she responded, putting blush on her already rosy cheeks. He noticed that without make up you could see the faint freckles on her face, but with the make up they became invisible. "I guess that makes sense, but I don't know anything about law."

"Did you finish high school?" he heard himself ask, then almost slapped himself. Why would he ask t hat?

"Well, no." she answered. "I quit when I was sixteen, but I did get my GED, just in case. I started to perform when I was sixteen, and I thought _why_ would I want to continue high school when I already have a career. Then I realized I'm bound to get old one day, and I wont be able to perform, I might need an education."

"Is that when you came to the circus?"

She shook her head. "No, I've been here since I was seven." at the shocked look at Spencer's face, she laughed. "My brother got custody of me, and this was his life. Then it became mine."

"Don't you wish you had a...Well, _normal_ life?"

"This is normal to me." she shrugged. "Being baby sat by a man with 99% percent of his body tattooed and a split tongue was normal, living on a train was normal... I always liked to think I'm living the dream. I get to play dress up all the time, go places, ride on elephants, I love it all too much to go to _normal_ normal. But, maybe sometimes I get excited a little excited when I'm around someone normal." she looked at Spencer. "Which is probably why I'm talking so much to you."

"I don't mind." Spencer stuttered.

She turned back to the mirror. They fell into a silence and Spencer watched her put mascara on. She got to do a job that made her and other people happy, and he worked with serial killers all day, every day. He couldn't help be jealous, but he had to remember that he was helping people, and what he did was important. Saving lives should have filled him with content, but with each murdered body he was he felt himself get more and more hollow. Suddenly, he heard someone come in. "Reid, let's go." he turned to find Derek, who then disappeared from view.

Spencer and Molly stood up. He sat his mug down. "Well, thanks for talking to me."

She bit her lip. "Yeah, hold on." she leaned over her bed and grabbed a pen, then grabbed her hand, tickling his palm as she scribbled something on it. Then she dropped his hand and holy- she stood on her tip toes and wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.

Girls didn't do this. Girls didn't hug Spencer. Nor did they kiss him on the cheek then whisper to him, "Thanks for listening."

Sam mumbled a goodbye and he left, catching up with Derek. He looked at his hand; It was a ten digit number, followed by two words.

_Call me._

* * *

><p>Derek hadn't gotten much with Tom, the owner. Spencer tried not go through the rest of his day without thinking about the number on his hand, which he shamefully admits to himself he went out of his way to not smudge until he got the number in his phone.<p>

He didn't like things that confused him, he was a certified genius and he was never confused, but right now he just had no idea why she gave him his number. Maybe it had something to do with what she said about 'getting excited' when she met normal people. Maybe Spencer was the only 'normal' person that she has talked to and she might have just lonely. As much as he wanted to believe she felt the same feelings he felt, that just didn't happen.

But at the end of the day, he was in his hotel room, staring at his cell phone. He would pick up the phone, then set it back. He didn't know if calling her off the clock, unofficially could be against a rule. What would Hotch say? But then again, it was only a phone call. That's it.

Without thinking, he found her contact and hit_ call. _

After two rings, a voice answered, "_Hello?_"

"Uh, hi is this Molly?"

A pause. "_Agent Reid?_"

"Spencer, but yeah."

"_Oh, hi!_" he suddenly heard someone, in a think Jersey accent, ask, "_Who you talkin' to?_"

Spencer laughed. "Hi. So, I called." why was his throat closing?

"_Yes, I can see that._" she laughed. "_Are you done with work for the day?_"

"Uh, yeah." he said.

"_Want to do something?_" she asked bluntly.

Spencer gave a nervous laugh. "Its kind of late." _And I'm not sure if I can hang out with a possible suspect._

She made a noise of disapproval. "_I can tell you don't have enough fun, you need to live a little._"

"I have fun." he attempted to argue.

She snorted. "_Please, you have such a serious job, that doesn't sound like fun. And I've seen enough TV to know you suits work too much._"

"Well, someone has to do it." he murmured.

"_So, come out and have fun with me._" she said. "_I promise I will get you back into bed at a reasonable time._"

And because when he thought about saying no he saw those damn blue eyes looking dissapearing, he said, "Fine."

* * *

><p>Molly had just gotten done with a show when he called her, so she said she need half an hour to get into '<em>clothing<em>', as she put it_. _She told him to meet her at a bus station not too far from the fair grounds, and now he was sitting on a bench, his cardigan keeping him warm enough. He tapped his foot and checked his watch, waiting.

Suddenly, a voice was in his ear. "Nice of you to show up."

He turned to find Molly leaning against the back of the bench, smiling. She wore jeans and a navy blue, form fitting hoodie. "Did you think I wasn't going to?"

A smile played on her lips. "I'm just surprised you agreed to is all." she straightened up. "Well, let's go."

"Where are we going?" he asked, standing up.

They started to walk and she looked to be thinking. "I'm not sure."

"You don't know?" he asked. Who made plans without actually having _plans?_

"Its the spotneity. I had to sneak out to do this so we are going to do _something_ fun damn it."

"Snuck out?" he asked, confused.

"We have a curfew the nights before performances. Tom says the only reason we would want to leave after eleven is to party or whatever, and he says an overly tired, shot out, or hung over performer is a dangerous performer." she said. "But it wont make a difference for me, I will get enough sleep."

"I don't see how you can give an adult a curfew..."

"The Playboy Bunny girls have a curfew." she pointed out. "It's like nine or something.

_And I'm not supposed to even be out here with you,_ he thought. _We're both breaking rules. _"Oh, lets get a smoothie!" she said excitedly, pointing at a smoothie shop that was conveniently open. Spencer let her drag him in and she hoped to the counter. "_I _will have a wild berry, and he...?" she looked at him.

He read the menu in a second. "Mango."

She nodded at the guy, who then brought the total up. Spencer was about to get his wallet. "No, dummy, I got it." she went into her purse and pulled out a few ones. "Here." she smiled charmingly at the guy, who seemed to _melt_.

"Thanks." Spencer said.

"Its the least I could do after kidnaping you." she joked. The man handed her two cups. "Thank you." she handed one to Spencer.

"Maybe I could get a number?" he winked.

She snorted. "Please, you look like you're only sixteen. I don't think so."

Spencer resisted the urge to smirk and followed her out. They walking down the lit sidewalk, silent for a while. "Where to now?" he asked.

She thought. "I don't know. I just wing it, usually." he laughed. "What do you do for the FBI, exactly?"

Spencer almost groaned. "I do investigative work for teen runaways." he hated lying to her, but he already broke one pretty big rule, he didn't need to break any more.

"That's pretty specific." she murmured. "It could be worse, though. I would hate to have one of those more sad jobs the FBI has." _You have no idea._ "With those murders that get serious."

"It must really take its toll on an agent." he agreed, somewhat bitterly. In need to change the subject, he asked, "Why did you ask me to come out tonight?"

Molly looked at him. "You look so wound up whenever I have seen you, I like seeing you more _relaxed. _And I have been dying to get out."

"I thought you loved it there." he pointed out.

She frowned. "Well, I do, and I can't see myself anywhere else. But, I don't know, sometimes I feel like I'm missing out, doing the same thing every day. Most people think the circus life is exotic and carefree. I mean, its pretty much a twenty four hour adventure, but we still have routine, and after a while its the same thing everyday. I love it, I just like the change every once in a while." Molly shrugged. "I don't know what I'm thinking, maybe its all in my head.

"No, I think I know what you're saying." Spencer said. "Sometimes you want to feel normal?" _Even though you have such an abnormal lifestyle._

Molly looked up at him and grinned. "What is normal anyway?"

And instead of giving a very Spencer answer, he grinned back. "I haven't the slightest idea."

* * *

><p>They spent of few hours doing a lot of nothing, and Spencer loved every moment. He got so relaxed, it was easy to talk to her as the night went on. He told her about high school, graduating at twelve and so on. She connected pretty fast that he was a prodigy, and it obviously brought down her confidence, which it shouldn't have. He was spectacular in one way, and she was spectacular in many ways.<p>

He listened to her stories about being on the circus, from wild parties, doing anything that would show death the middle finger for _fun,_ traveling car to car while the train was moving(which Spencer informed her was _very_ illegal). She did so many interesting things, he was jealous.

"That _bitch!_" she was saying, after he told her about a girl who asked him out then ditched him for a football jock.

Spencer snorted. They were sitting in the grass, leaning against a big tree. "I know."

"Screw her." she said. "She would be kicking herself right now if she could see you, and the only men interested in her are the kind of men who _pay _for her." Spencer was laughing, wondering why it was so easy around her. "She is only going to date losers who treat her crap, no one nice like you."

He shrugged. "I don't know, girls don't usually go for... Well, me."

She rolled her eyes. "That's because women for the most part like to date men who treat them like dirt. For every _Spencer_ in the world, there are ten jerkoffs who get the girl." she grinned. "And they might be a _little_ put out by how smart you are."

"It's not like I can help it." he defended, smiling.

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?" she inquired. He sheepishly shook his head. "_Never?_"

He blushed. "Have you? You're on the road all the time."

It was Mollys turn to go red. "Well, we stay a week or two in town, and everyone once in a while I will meet someone. I don't date them, so I guess I've never dated anyone. But when I meet someone who isn't a loser, we might..." she trailed off, blushing crazy.

Spencer got the gist. "More then I can say."

She paused. "You've never been kissed?"

Spencer looked at the grass, embarrassed. "Well, no... I'm so awkward, I wouldn't know what to do anyway." _Great, she must dig this loser thing._

Molly seemed to think about that. "I think your special."

He looked at her, confused. "What?"

"I think you're special, different." she said, turning to sit on her knees. "I'd say we're buddies now, right?"

"I suppose."

"Well, think of this as a favor." before Spencer could ask _what_, one hand was placed on his shoulder and she kissed him so suddenly. He was shocked, beyond that. But she pulled away. "Do you mind?"

All he could do was shake his head. "Just, let me show you." she leaned forward again and this time Spencer closed his eyes and her lips were on his again. He felt so awkward, he knew he had to be doing something wrong, he probably looked like an idiot-

His brain short circuited when her lips moved against his, and instinctively did it couldn't think how wrong it was while another hand went to his face and she leaned more into him. He didn't know what to do with his hands so he awkwardly had them frozen at his sides. Then the tip of her tongue ran across his lip and he opened his mouth-

Wow. That's kind of... Awesome.

Without thinking, his hands found their way to her waist and for a small moment she led until her got the hang of it. But once that happened, her lips were gone.

Molly smiled at him. "Now you can say your first kiss wasn't by a brat who would end up hurting you. So when you meet the future Mrs. Genius, you'll know what to do."

Spencer felt so hot, his stomach was clenched so tight, he could only lamely squeak out, "Thanks."

...

The rest of the time they spent together wasn't awkward like Spencer thought it would. Molly acted as if she hadn't kissed him, and Spencer was a bit grateful.

When he was back in bed, all he could think about was the kiss and how it _shouldn't_ have happened, he _shouldn't_ have went out that night either. But he broke two huge rules and he was having a difficult time trying to care.

While Spencer battled his thoughts, his new trapeze friend was getting back to the train, to her car. The raven haired girl noticed her roommates were gone and suspected they weren't coming back until the next morning. However, he friends Tim was there, waiting for her since she texted him saying she was on her way back. "You are _bad._" was the first thing he said.

"Is there any specific reason?" she grinned playfully, closing the door and began to undress. Normally, the chances of her dressing in front of a guy were slim to none for Molly, Tim didn't exactly play for team 'straight'.

"Oh, sneaking out and making out with a federal agent are the first two off of the top of my head." he joked. "Seriously, Molly."

"He's never been kissed." she defended, pulling on her night slip.

He snorted. "Right, you just wanted a reason to kiss him. He _is _cute, so I wont hold it against you."

Molly shrugged. "He's different."

"Different from all of the nobodies you usually make out with?"

"You make me sound like a hoe." she complained. "And like I do it _all the time._"

"Well what do you mean by different?"

"He's sweet, and innocent."

"Ah." her best friend said. "Trying to corrupt him."

Molly threw a pillow at him. "God, do you ever listen to yourself? You are _horrible_."

He snapped his fingers. "Ah! You like him. I get it." she rolled her eyes, but otherwise stayed silent. "You travel on the circus hun, and I don't exactly see a circus performed and a _federal agent_ living happily ever after."

Molly laughed. "I don't date. Period." she sighed, hands on her hips. She glanced at the picture on her nightstand. "I miss him."

"Who, Dalton?" she nodded, staring at the picture of her and the little person. "People quit all the time."

"He didn't have a reason to though. He was here, happy and stuff then _gone_."

"Trust me, Dalton ran away _from_ the circus to join society. You know, he always wanted to go to Hollywood." she seemed to consider this. "Hun, he's fine."

"It sucks when they leave and don't stay in contact." she murmured. Molly sighed, regaining her composure. "Are you staying her tonight?"

Tim shook his head. "There is a party in Carols car. You want to com?"

She shook her head. "I'm tired."

Tim shrugged. "Night."

"Night."

...

The next day, Spencer and the rest of the team had nothing to do but wait for the face recognition. Spencer thought about Molly most of the time.

"The boys at Quantico say it wont be finished until tomorrow morning." Penelope said, walking into the room.

"Everyone might as well take off tonight." Hotch said, sighing.

Everyone started to pile up and Spencer caught Emily. "Prentiss, can I ask a favor?"

"Sure sugar what is it?"

"Can you come with me to watch the performance tonight?" he asked.

She tilted her head. "I'd love to. Any reason why?"

He bit his lip. "Can I tell you in the car?"

* * *

><p>Half an hour to performance. Molly was in the dressing tent, squeezing into her outfit. Gems were glued onto her, her make up was just about done. Another night, another performance.<p>

She was inspecting herself in the vanity mirror when Tim came up to her, his face stony. "Hey, is everything alright?" she asked immediately.

He looked over his shoulder. "I have to talk to you." he said quietly. Molly tried to search his eyes, and he looked nothing less then serious.

"What is it?" she asked, standing closer to him.

Before he could say anything, their latest Ringleader, Joshua, came up to them. "Come on guys! You need to get those hands powdered." he looked at Tim. "Everything alright?" Tim nodded. "Well, let's go."

* * *

><p>Spencer and Emily sat down, the girl still in shock after the story Spencer gave it. "You are in so much trouble if Hotch finds out."<p>

"He wont find out if you don't tell him." Spencer said firmly.

"_I wont._" she said. "Spencer, you're gonna' have to talk to her about it."

"I know, I just don't know what there is to talk about. She treated it like it was professional business. It didn't seem to mean anything."

"A girl you just met kisses you shortly after meeting you. I bet it meant something." Spencer rolled his eyes, he already knew it didn't.

Lights dimmed. "Its about to start."

* * *

><p>A while into the performance, the aerial artists were waiting to perform, the lion act almost done. Tim looked sick. "What is up with you?"<p>

He shook his head. "Later."

They were announced. Molly grave her friends hand a squeezed and the ran into the ring.

* * *

><p>"There she is." Emily said. <em>Funhouse<em> by Pink began to play as they began to defy gravity.

He watched as Molly leaned forward to grab a bar and swung with it. Spencer held his breath as she let go, turned around mid air, and her legs hooked onto another one. As she began to swing forward, she held her arms out and one of the male aerielists with light brown hair leaned forward.

* * *

><p>Molly, doing the same thing she did every night, was swinging toward Tim, like she did every night. Like every night, he lunged forward and grabbed onto her-<p>

But as soon as she clasped both his arms with both hers, he seemed to slip down a little.

Well, that wasn't entirely rare. She would have to squeeze a little harder.

But before they even swung halfway to the other side, he slipped more. His arms were _moist._ They used a special powder so this never happened to Molly before.

He slipped more and the bar jerked as he instinctively kicked his legs. This slowed momentum and they were slowing. She tried to hold on tighter.

* * *

><p>Spencer was staring at the scene, wide eyed. "Is this part of the act?" Emily asked.<p>

"No."

* * *

><p>One hand ripped away from her, and Molly screamed, using both hands to hold onto him. But it was no use, because now he was slipping away, out of her grasp. "<em>TIM!<em>"

Her first instinct was to drop, but that would be stupid because she would die. With all of her strength, she pulled herself into a sitting position and stood on it, leaping to the next bar and swinging to the ledge. She was halfway down the latter in a second.

* * *

><p>He landed with a <em>thump.<em> Emily was standing, pulling out her badge. Spencer was following her and the two ran down the aisles. Emily was holding her badge, yelling, "Move, federal agents!"

They stopped in front of the body and Spencer knelt down. He noticed Molly was running at the, until the ringmaster grabbed her, holding her back a few feet away. She was yelling at him.

Spencer couldn't find a pulse. The boy was dead.


End file.
